A distributor of various massage/spa products came to Tempco in need of a heating pad to warm numerous salt stones for massage purposes. They had tried several silicone mats from other manufacturers for this application. However, they felt that the mats were of poor quality, often built with damaged leads. Additionally, the mats operated at insufficient temperatures and poor temperature control resulted in massage stones that were not the right temperatures, usually too hot.

The stones varied in thickness and geometry and needed to be heated up to approximately 105°F for optimal use. Tempco did testing on silicone rubber heaters to find the optimal wattage necessary to heat the stones to temperature in around a 30 minute time interval. A preset thermostat was integrated into each heater to provide better control and to insure that the stones wouldn’t overheat over time.

The final product that satisfied the application requirements consisted of a flat silicone rubber heater that was designed to:

• fit in a handling tray
• hold 15 different stones at one time
• allow the stones to be left on the powered heater all day without overheating.